Feeding apparatus



H. R. COLLINS FEEDING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. a. 1919 ATTORNEYS,

Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

UNITED srATEs Parr-Mr mm.

may ammon a counts, or ALLENTOWN, rmms nvma, assrqnon. 'ro rumma- LEHIGH coxrm, a CORPORATION or rmmsrnvmra.

FEEDING APPARATUS.

Original application filed November 8, 1919, Serial 1T0. $36,571. Divided and this application fled February 7, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY RAYMOND Counts, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allentown, in the county of Le- 5 high," State of Pennsylvania, have 'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates. to feeding apparatus for feeding pulverulent or anular material and is directed particular y to the provision of a feeding apparatus of an improved form adapted for usein supplying ne material to apparatus which is to act upon the material, such for instance as a grinding mill.

The invention is of special value in feeding apparatus for feedin fine coal to a pulverizer mill in which t e coal is reduced to a pulverized state suitable for use in a pulverized fuel furnace. One object of the invention is to provide a feeder of a simple construction such that it may be manufactured at low cost, and capable of convenient adjustment whereby the rate at which the material is supplied to the mill may be regulated over a wide range quite readily.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a feeder of this character ada ted for use in connection with mills of t e a type known as air separation mills,- in which itis important that the feeder be of such a construction as will preclude the: entrance or escape of air to .or from the mill through the feeding apparatus. In some forms of 40 mills for pulverizing coal, the fine particles are drawn out by an air circulation to a suitable separator and the air from the separator is returned to the millcto pickup a further'supply of the finepa-rticles. In amill of this type, the materlal-to be pulverized must be' fed in practicallycontirruouslyybut it is very important that there should e no entrance of air to or. escapeof air from themill through the feeder. f l These objects are attained in accordance with the presentinvention by the provision of a feeder having a reciprocating member and parts associated therewith of such a construction that when the member is recippportion' of a ball mill supp Serial 1T6. 691,100.

rocated in one direction" some of the material to be fed is allowed to fall by gravity into its path of movement and when the member is reciprocatedin the other direction, a portion of the material to -be fed lying in its path'is pushed by the member forward to a positionwhere it will pass-[by gravity into the mill, an adequate supply of the material to be fed being always 'maintained in the path of movement of the material so that this material itselfwill serve as an effective obstruction to the passage of air into or out of the mill through the feeder.

' In a feeder of this type, adequate means must be provided for efl'ecting an adjustment of the rate of feed of the material.

This may be accomplished in various ways, I

for instance, the range over which the member referred to is reciprocated may be ad-.

vision may be made for regulating as de-.

sired the freedomwith which the material falls into the path of-niovement of the reciprocatory memberso -as to regulate the rate of feed in that way.

, These features pf the' invention will be better understood" by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate the. referred embodiment ofthe invention.

In t ese drawings,iFig. lis a central vertical section of thefeedingaEparatus anda paratus and Fig. 2is an. elevation of a'portion" of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Referring ,tothese drawings, a ball-mill is shown of the type commonly. used in. ul-r verizing coal for u'se in'a pulverized el furnace, cement kiln or the like. It includes a ring 3 and balls 4 which are caused to travel around in the ringby pusher arms5 mounted on a central power-driven ed by the apshaft 6. "Scoops or blades 7 serve to throw the pulverized material upward to suitable separating means; The mill shown in the 7 present instance is of the air separation type including an adjustable damper 8 through which the-air laden with the pulverized w 'material' is" drawn by a fan located' above Th1s casing is mounted upona bracket 13 secured to the casing of the mill and having the passage 10 formed therein. An outlet from the casing of the feeder aligns with this passage 10. Within the casing of the feeder is areciprocating member having semi-circular side walls 14, a curved bottom wall 15 and a wall 16 which is radially'and is spaced from the adjacent end of the curved wall 15. This wall 16 is of such length that its edge lies close to the surface of the curved wall 12 of the casing, so that when this member is reciprocated, the. edge of wall 16 sweeps over the curved wall 12 and pushes forward anymaterial lying thereon. This reciprocating member is ivotallyv mounted in bearings formed upon e side walls 11 .of the casing of the feeder and is ada ted to be reciprocated about its pivot. A opper 17 extends down intothe reciprocating member as shown, and on one side this hopper is provided with a door 18 to give access to the interior of the feeder for inspection and repair. The hopper is 'bolted upon the casing of the feeder with certain of its walls f part of the easing as shown in the drawing. The hopper may be provided with a gate 19 adapted to V be mounted upon the inclined wall of the hopper and capable of adjustment and of being secured in any plosition of adjustment upon that inclined wa The operating mechanism is shown in Fig. 2. A belt 20 transmits wer from a power shaft to a counter-aha 21, and a belt 22 transmits power from that shaft to another shaft 23. On this shaft 23 isa crank -or eccentric 24 with which cooperates a rod- 25. The opposite end of this rod 25 is connected to a crank arm 26 mounted upon the end of the shaft 27 u n which the reciprocating member of feeder is mounted. The crank arm 26 is preferably provided with aslot as shown in Fig. 2 whereby the rod 25 may be connected to the. arm 26 in various positions of adjustment with respect tothe shaft27.

When the mill is in operation, the shaft 27 is reci rocatedb the and crank arm 26an with it t e reciprocating member of the feeder o the-parts 14, 15 and 16. Figf l shows t cos reciprocating parts at practicallyn one end of theinrange of.

movement. this position the pulverized apparatus is employed for .'the left, the radial wall 16 e amass-r material drops by gravity through the opening between the walls 15 and-16 down u on' the curved wall 12 of the feeder.

en the reciprocating member moves tongages the material lying infront of it and pushes it forward, and while it does so more or less 'of the material falls through the outlet passage of the feeder and the passage 10 into the The range of reciprocation of the radial wall 16 is such that the limit of its movement toward the outlet is spaced from the latter so that not all of the material on the wall 12 is discharged into the outlet by the movement toward the latter of the radialwall. Then on the return movement of these reciprocating parts more of the mate rial to be pulverized drops down upon the wall 12 to replenish the supply there. At

all times there is a suflicient amount of the material u v n the wall 12 and between that wall and e wall 15 to effectually preclude the go of air either way through the feeding apparatus. The rate of feed may be regulated as desired, as for instance by regulating the range of the reciprocating parts of the feeder by changing the point of connection of the rod'25 to the crank arm 26. A similar adjustment can be effected by altering the position of the gate 19 and thus regulating the freedom of flow of the materiaildown through the hopper and upon the wa 12. I

This application constitutes a division of an application for patent filed by me on November 8th 1919, on'which-Patent No. v

1,484,298 wasissued Feb. 19,1924.

I claim:

1. A. feeder comprising the combination of i a casing provided with an inlet openin a curved wall "and an outlet opening lea from that wall, a reciprocating member. comprising a portion lying between the curved wall and the inlet opening, and normally interce ting material entering the casing through the inlet opening and o rable to discharge this. material'upon t e curved wall by the reciprocation of said member,

and a second rtion movable over the curved wall an move toward the outlet 0 material dischar upon the curv wall from the first portion, and power-devices for actuating the reciprocating member through a ran such that the of travail toward tlhe ouftlet opening 0 e' secon portion t ereo is spaced from said outlet 0 ning.

2. A feeder comprising 9 combination of a casing provided with an mlet open' a curved wall and an outlet passage, a fee ing operable toengage and member comprising a portion lying between the curved wall and the inlet opening and normall intercepting material entering the casing &rough the inlet opening, this portion'preventing the direct pawage of ma-' member being so formed as to discharge the terial from the inlet to the outlet through the casing and being operable to discharge the intercepted material upon the curved wall by the reciprocation of said member, and a second portion adapted to engage and move toward the outlet opening material discharged upon the curvedwall from the first portion, and means for reciprocating said feeding member within the casing through a range such that the limit of travel of the second portion toward said outlet opening is spaced therefrom.

3. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing provided with an inlet opening, a-curved wall and an outlet leading therefrom, a reciprocating member comprising a portion lying between the inlet opening and thecurved wall and normallyintercepting the material entering the casing through the inlet openin this portion serving to prevent the direct ow of material from the inlet opening to the outlet opening through the.

casing and being operable to discharge the intercepted material upon the curved wall by the reciprocation of said member, and

this range of reciprocation always being such that the limit of travel of the second portion toward said outlet opening lies at a point on said curved wall spaced from said outlet opening.

4. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing provided with an inlet opening, a curved wall and an outlet leading therefrom, a member adapted to" move in said casing with a reciprocating motion and comprising an arcuate portion lying in spaced relation from the said curved wall and normally intercepting material entering the casing through the inlet opening, the said arcuate material thereon upon the curved wall as the member reciprocates and normally preventing the direct flow of material from the inlet opening to the outlet opening, and

a second portion s aced from one end of the first portion an operable to engage and move material discharged upon the curved wall from said arcuate portion, power devices for reciprocating said member through a ran e such that the limit of travel of the secon portion thereof toward the outlet opening is always s aced therefrom where by a supply of materlal always remains upon said curved wallto preclude the passage of air through said feeder, and means for regulating the rate at which material is fed through the outlet by the reciprocation of from the curved wall of the casing and a substantially radial wall spaced from the "curved wall, and means for reciprocating the said member to cause the radial wall to move over the curved wall of the casing to move material supplied toithe casing through the space between the curved wall and the radial wall of the member.

6. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing having a curved wall and an outlet leading therefrogii, a reciprocating member comprisin a curved wall s aced from the curved we 1 of the casing and a substantially radial wall spaced from the curved wall, and means for reciprocating said member to cause the radial wall to move back andforth over a portion of the curved wall of the casing spaced from said outlet.

7. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing having-agcurved wall and an outlet leading therefrom, a reciprocating member comprisin a curved walls aced from the curved wafi of the casing an a substantially radial wall spaced from the curved wall, means for rec procating said member to cause the radial "wall to move back and forth over a portion of the curved wall of the casing spaced from said outlet and means for effecting an ad'ustment of the rate at which the material is supplied to said outlet by the reci rocatioii s of said radial wall.

8. A fee er comprising the combination of a casing having a curved wall and an outlet leading therefrom, fa reciprocating member comprising a curved -wall s aced from the curved wall of the casing an a substantiall radial wall spaced from the curved wal means for reciprocating said member to cause the radial wall to move back and forth over a portion of the curved vwall of the casing spaced from said outletand means for effecting an adjustment of the rate at which the material is supplied to said outlet by adjusting .the range over which the said radial wall isreciprocated.

9. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing provided with a curved wall and an outlet leading therefrom, a reciprocating member provided with a curved wall spaced from the curved wall of the casing and a substantially radial wall spaced from the curved wall, a ho per arranged over said member for supp ying the material to be fed to the interior of the member and means for reciprocating the member about the axis of said curved walls, the range of reciprocation of said radial wall being spaced from the outlet from the casing. v

10. A feeder comprising the combination of a casing having an outlet in one wall.

thereof, an inlet in the casing, reciprocating means movable over the wall of the casing in which the outlet is located to engage material thereon and move it toward the Outlet, the

limit of ,movement. of the reciprocating means toward the outlet being spaced from the latter and means interposed between the I inlet and the said wall for intercepting material entering the casing through the inlet, this means being movable in correspondence -with the movement of the reciprocating of a casing having a wall over which the material to be red is moved and an outlet from 'the sai said wall, a reciprocatory member comprising a wall substantially arallel to and spaced from the said wall 0 the casing and a second wall s aced from the said wall of the member an substantially perpendicular to the said wall of the casing, power devices for reci rocating the said member to cause transverse wall to'move over the surface, of the said wall of the casing over a range spaced from the outlet, and means for supplying the material to be fed to said member so as to cause it to pass by gravit through the space between the two said wal of the member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY RAYMOND COLLINS. 

